Anderson: Journal Star dropping comic after attack on Trump

Tuesday

Feb 12, 2019 at 4:53 PM

The Journal Star is canceling Wiley Miller’s “Non Sequitur” comic strip over an attack he made against President Donald Trump in his Sunday, Feb. 10, comic.

While the offending strip did not appear in the Journal Star, as “Non Sequitur” is published Monday through Saturday and not on Sunday, we have a concern about Miller’s work and his treatment of the president.

Miller scribbled a message in the lower-right-hand corner of the comic reading, “We fondly say go ---- yourself to Trump.”

It appears Miller’s comment was intended. The artist Tweeted on Sunday: “Some of my sharp-eyed readers have spotted a little Easter egg from Leonardo Bear-Vinci. Can you find it?”

In a statement issued Monday, Miller said the offending note on the strip “was NOT intended for public consumption, and I meant to white it out before submitting it, but forgot to.” He did not apologize.

The offending submission fails to meet the Journal Star’s standards for what is appropriate for a community newspaper, including comic strips.

Andrews McMeel, which syndicates Non Sequitur, issued a statement Monday stating, “We are sorry we missed the language in our editing process. If we had discovered it, we would not have distributed the cartoon without it being removed. We apologize to Non Sequitur’s clients and readers for our oversight.”

Because comics pages are produced weeks in advance, “Non Sequitur” will appear in the Journal Star for a few weeks until it is replaced.